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Wednesday, 18 April 2018

Currently the trend of memes is all over the internet and is at its peak right now, one must be shocked to know that they were introduced around 25 years back, The word “meme” was first introduced by Richard Dawkins and he defined it as ‘any conduct, thought or style which is transferred from one person to the other through non-genetic ways, usually restrictions. Majority of the trending memes which are usually captioned photos are meant to be humorous, trying to mock human behavior publically. The other categories of memes are videos and oral expressions. However, their other memes also which are intellectual and have philosophical content.

There are memes almost on every issue, one of them is medical memes which takes jibes with many medical conditions. One of such medical conditions is Mesothelioma. Memes on Mesothelioma have been introduced quite a while ago and have been trending at a rapid rate on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Such memes are found funny by the users and are now in quite a demand in online culture.

How did these memes start?

The memes in relation to Mesothelioma started surfacing when ‘injury law associates’, a youtube posted a commercial for the Houston Texas attorneys Danziger & Delano on August 29th, 2008. The said commercial consciously informed other viewers relating to funds available for people diagnosed with Mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma Memes pic

The Spread of Mesothelioma Memes

From that time, memes relating to mesothelioma became viral. One Reddit user on 25th October 2016, uploaded a meme of a joyful baby held by his mother and put the caption of mesothelioma copypasta. The meme got famous in a short span of time and garnered a lot of votes and comments.

On another day, a Tumblr user uploaded a fake picture of signature of Hollywood with a mesothelioma copypasta. In just 2 days, the meme attracted more than 8500 views.

There are various other popular memes on the internet regarding which includes the following: Mesothelioma?

Is it an employed man’s cancer?

My name is Doug, I have Mesothelioma….

Television teaches us nothing wrong. Mesothelioma!

Huffed Asbestos….

Do you want Mesothelioma?

My head is killing me…It must be Mesothelioma!

Damn video!

Thine shall be declared….

Shouting out loud!

Benefits of Mesothelioma Memes

One may think that memes are only for fun and mocking, however, there are some categories of memes which have a meaning and may also provide benefit to others. Likewise, some benefits of mesothelioma memes are:

People can share it with others which may create awareness amongst people, whether getting affected or not.

In most cases, such memes provide direction towards a solution.

They make people laugh and appreciate the cleverness and wittiness in such memes.

The audience can relate to such memes.

They can be created without much hassle.

Subject to a person’s understanding of social awareness, they can be digested easily.

They are easy to relate to.

Can these memes be taken as a joke?

Whether memes on such disease can be used for fun or not is a question which is debatable. First, let us get aware what mesothelioma is. So according to mesothelioma.com, “it is a rare, aggressive form of cancer that develops in the lining of the lungs, abdomen, or heart." Mesothelioma occurs in a person’s body due to asbestos and it is incurable. There is a grant of financial compensation for people who are exposed to asbestos unknowingly, for example during job hours or through a product at home. Law firms like Sokolove and Weitz & Luxenberg have publicised their services to patients and the phrase which is widely used in such commercials is that people are entitled to financial compensation if they are diagnosed with mesothelioma. The question that is frequently asked is why such memes are funny? In a way, such trolls make fun of an advertisement that is there to help people who or their family members are dying or dead?

This showcases downright disrespect to people who are diagnosed with mesothelioma as well as their loved ones. Would you be making fun if any of your mother, father, or any other loved one had this life harming disease and trying to claim their rightful money? It seems as if people on internet and television are ready to stoop down to any level just for some fun. It can be said that such memes are highly unfair to those who are affected by this cancer.